Ahead of the launch of Samsung's upcoming XR headset, the company has revealed that it developed a new metalens technology in collaboration with Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). This technology helps deliver high-resolution images via lightweight XR headsets.

Samsung's XR headset could offer high-resolution video despite being lightweight

Samsung published a joint research paper on its metalens technology in the renowned academic journal Nature Materials. The paper, ‘Roll-To-Plate Printable RGB-Achromatic Metalens For Wide-Field-Of-View Holographic Near-Eye Displays,' details the findings of the research by Samsung and POSTECH.

This study was led by Samsung Research's Dr. Seokil Moon and POSTECH Professor Junsuk Rho. POSTECH's Joohoon Kim, Kilsoo Shin, and Minseok Choi are the co-authors of the paper.

The new achromatic metalens can be used in XR glasses and headsets. Since it is lightweight, it helps in making XR devices lighter, which adds to the overall comfort. It is also claimed to be free from color distortions. Combined with holographic displays, it can overcome optical aberrations.

This flat metalens is made of nanoscale structures that can control light diffraction. It has been recognized as the next-generation component necessary for making thin and high-performance XR wearable devices and cameras. However, metalens have encountered problems related to severe chromatic aberrations.

To solve that, some metalenses found a way to design individual meta-structures independently and subsequently assemble them onto a substrate but overlooked interrelationships between structures in the design phase.

Samsung claims to have overcome that problem by accounting for the interrelationships between multiple meta-structures in a metalens during the design phase and designing them simultaneously. The company says its new technology completely removes chromatic aberration while achieving a shorter focal length and reducing the size and weight of the lens.

It isn't clear if such a metalens has been used in Samsung's upcoming XR headset, such as the Project Moohan-based prototype or final product, or AR glasses. However, the company says it will continue its work with the academia and other industry-leading initiatives to develop groundbreaking technologies that can shape the future.

Image Credits: Samsung Research, POSTECH, Nature Materials

The post Samsung develops metalens tech for lightweight XR headsets appeared first on SamMobile.